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The Kingdom of Lato
Lato is a kingdom composed of several dozen islands and smaller archipelagos contained in the Layian Sea. The Layian Sea is isolated from the rest of the world, causing the people of Lato to live in near total ignorance of the outside world. The kingdom spans an area of 910,000 square miles and currently has a population of over 10,000,000 people. History Pre-History The islands of modern-day Lato were first settled by travelers from across the Great Ocean surrounding the island clusters tens of thousands of years ago. Archaeological sites across the kingdom have confirmed that these first visitors came in waves, often separated by race. The northeastern island of Lutea is home to the oldest confirmed settlement in the cluster, a human settlement dating back 23,000 years ago. Dwarven settlements date back 22,500 years, primarily gathered around the southern coast of Cherleri. Early elf settlers arrived circa 22,000 years ago, primarily on the north-western islands of Pusilla, Scilla and Wardii. Earliest signs of halfling and gnome settlements date to 16,000 years ago, while tieflings appear to have arrived 13,000 years ago. The dragonborne and half-orc populations of Lato descend from ancestors who pre-dated the settlement of Lato by the travelers. Ancient Lato In ancient times, the islands of Lato were by and large secluded from each other. It was not a lack of sailing technology that kept them apart, but rather a lack of expansionist tendencies among the new residents. Instead, the people focused on building up the islands on which they originally landed and those in the immediate vicinity. The first human city in the clusters was Unnqa, located on the southern shore of Lutea, believed to be founded 20,000 years ago. Unnqa's power grew until it dominated all of Lutea and even most of the northern shore of Villosa. The Unnqacans' march south into Villosa was halted by another human city, Xerxi, located on the site of current day Castle Draco. The two cities fought to a violent stalemate at the Battle of Dune Creek 18,950 years ago. This created a dividing line between the two cities, wherein Unnqa controlled Lutea and the northern half of Villosa, while Xerxi controlled the southern portion of Villosa. Elsewhere in the cluster, happening roughly concurrently, the new elven residents of Lato lived in relative harmony. Divided into three subgroups, each living on either Pusilla, Scilla or Wardii, the elven communities largely ignored each other. The elves who populated Pusilla were high elves, separating themselves into even smaller communities as they spread across Pusilla, the third largest island in the cluster. The Pusillan high elves encountered resistance from the native orc population, but the superior arms of the elves, highlighted by the longbow, allowed them to push the resistance back with ease. While most encounters between the elves and the orcs were violent, there were a few peaceful settlements which occasionally even resulted in cross-breeding and cross-marriages, laying the seeds for the current day half-orc populations. The new elven residents of Scilla were the wood elves, who congregated on Scilla due to its dense forest. The island itself is almost entirely forest, with just a small sliver of beach on the outer rim. The Scillan elves found an island devoid of other sentient species, instead merely populated by animals. They made a home for themselves in the trees and lived in seclusion from the outside world for thousands of years. The dark elves that inhabited Wardii also found the island and the scattering of tiny sub-islands that surround it empty. Unlike Scilla, however, Wardii was made of simple prairies. With little building materials, the Wardiis constructed their homes out of mudbricks. They made their living off fishing in the rich fish schools that swim around the island. The Wardiis and the Scillans clashed with each other now and then over fishing access in the Strait of Falkun that divided the two islands, but the elves were able to reach a settlement 18,000 years ago to give equal access to the fisheries to both populations. Unlike the humans and elves, which both settled on multiple islands when they first arrived, the new dwarves of Lato landed on only Cherleri. The dwarven contingent was smaller than the human and elf waves, which proved to be an advantage in the creation of a society as they were unified from the very beginning. On Cherleri they found the Scoutus Mountain Range, which was very much to their liking. They did as dwarves do and made themselves a home in the mountains, basing their first city on Mount Juba 19,000 years ago. Still the home of the seat of the royal dwarven house of Edulis, Mount Juba is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Lato. While the dwarves encountered resistance in the form of goblins and orcs, as well as a variety of lesser monsters, that lived in the mountains, they were able to beat them back and create a lasting society. The First Kingdoms Around 15,000 years ago, as if granted from a unified divine message, the residents of Lato began to itch for expansion, an itch that they scratched. Over the next 2,000 years, numerous kingdoms rose up. By this time, the human cities of Xerxi and Unnqa had both fallen and were replaced by a coalition of cities in the same area named the Coalition of Xerqa. Xerqa expanded quickly, engulfing all of Lutea, Villosa and Calantha, as well as the eastern half of Popovii. Their spread across Popovii was stymied by a fledgling power comprised of genomes and halflings called the Republic of Paradisea. The two powers routinely clashed on their frontier, but neither gained any additional ground on Popovii. To the west, the seeds of cooperation between the dark elves of Wardii and the wood elves of Scilla that the Strait of Falkun planted blossomed into an alliance, the Kingdom of Falkun. Falkun creeped over the island of Concolor and the Hewerii Archipelago. This kingdom was peaceful and maintained good trade relations with its neighbors. Merchants from Xerqa, Paradisea and Miya could all be found coexisting in Falkun. The scattered villages, cities and communities of Pusilla were eventually united by the Bilfora tribe, hailing from the Woods of Miya. The Miyan Kingdom expanded rapidly until is contained all Pusilla, the southern island of Parryi, and the north-west fringes of Auratum. Miya was prevented from expanding further south into Auratum by a loose coalition of humans, elves and halflings who had migrated to the island. While the coalition never coalesced into a unified government, they were strong enough to prevent incursion onto their island. South of Xerqa, another human kingdom arose. This kingdom, known as the Kingdom of Pedals, was much smaller than the other human kingdom, containing just the small island of Humilis, the twin Soulieis Islands, and the Pedal Peninsula of Clusiana. The Kingdom of Pedals was another peaceful state, living in harmony with the humans and tieflings who lived on the rest of Clusiana. The Kingdom of Pedals had to fight off occasional Xerqan incursions on its land, but did so successfully. To the south of the Kingdom of Pedals was yet another kingdom. This was the Pandoran State, run by tieflings who had arrived on Trifolium thousands of years prior. Pandora conquered Trifolium and the Polyodon Archipelago, being met with minimal resistance. Pandora was another peaceful state, living in reflection and worship of the gods. They maintained excellent relations with its neighbors, the Kingdom of Pedals to the north and the Juban Empire to the west. The Juban Empire was a dwarven empire which contained the entirety of Cherleri, as well as the twin islands of Hirtum and Hirtam. While the ruling group was entirely composed of dwarves, the Juban Empire counted half-orcs, tieflings, humans, and some of the earliest half-elves among its population. Juba was the wealthiest power at this point in Lato's history, benefiting from the deep precious metal mines in the Scoutus Mountains. It maintained good relations with all the rest of the kingdoms of Lato, particularly the traders of Falkun. Not all of Lato was contained within these kingdoms. Those living outside the reaches of the seven kingdoms typically lived in either small, independent city-states, in small villages, or on their own in isolation. They would encounter people from the kingdoms often in the form of travelers, but they largely kept to themselves. The seven kingdoms ruled over their reaches for 5,000 years, until a wave of terror came out of the southwest. Terror The Latinium Islands are a small archipelago in the southwest of Lato. The ocean currents around the archipelago are rapid and unpredictable, making the area the most dangerous in the cluster. Due to this, the islands were never inhabited. That changed 9,984 years ago. A man from the city of Usagii in the Juban Empire named Snow Fall was arrested for the attempted assassination of the dwarven king, King Grimheim. Grimheim was a somewhat forgiving monarch, so instead of a summary execution, he simply banished Snow to the Latinium Islands. Snow was transported within 20 miles of the island, then sent on a rowboat the rest of the way. The expectation was that he would either get sunk by the current around the island and die, or he would make it to the islands where he would live out the rest of his life and die alone. When the dwarves saw his boat sink before it made it to the shore, they figured that was done with and left. Unknown to them, Snow did not drown, but washed up on the shore of one of the islands. He struggled to survive on the island for a few months, until he found a cave on the smallest island. What he found in that cave would change the world of those living in Lato for the next 1,000 years: dragons. Snow came upon a colony of red, blue and green dragons. These dragons had lair of great wealth, stolen from residents of the Lato cluster long before the most recent wave of migration. Snow was able to reason with them and tempt them with the new riches of the seven kingdoms. Snow built himself an army of dragons and rode them back to civilization. The dragon army of Snow decimated the cluster, crippling the Juban Empire, the Miyan Kingdom, the Coalition of Xerqa, the Kingdom of Pedals, the Kingdom of Fulkun, and the Pandoran State, as well as eliminating the Republic of Paradisea. Snow gathered an additional army of a scattering of humans, elves, half-elves, half-orcs and a new race, the dragonborn. He also made use of an ancient artifact known as the Eternity Gauntlet, which he could use to bend nearly any monster to his will, to build an almost unstoppable army of darkness. Additionally, the dragons granted him a small level of magic to extend his lifespan almost indefinitely. Snow and his forces of darkness dominated Lato for 800 years, creating the Kingdom of Snow, until an unknown elf managed to assassinate him. With the leader of the kingdom dead and the power of the Eternity Gauntlet gone, the army of Snow fractured. The dragons clashed with the humaniods and a deadly civil war broke out. The six remaining kingdoms seized the opportunity and united against the army of Snow and the remaining dragons. The war raged on for nearly 200 years until the armies of the six kingdoms defeated the army of Snow and the dragons. While not all the dragons were killed, the few who survived disappeared without a trace. The six kingdoms won, but at a heavy price: they were nearly all destroyed as well. The Juban Empire collapsed, leaving just Mount Juba as a lone stronghold for the former ruling Edulis family. The Miyan Kingdom lost control of everything but the Woods of Miya. The Coalition of Xerqa ceased to exist, being replaced by competing and uncooperative city-states. The Kingdom of Fulkun eventually regained its four islands, but its infrastructure and shipping fleets were destroyed, leaving it unable to interact with the greater cluster. The Pandoran State managed to maintain itself, but it turned introspective and deepened its commitment to religion. Only the Kingdom of Pedals emerged stronger, retaining Humilis, regaining the Soulieis and gaining control over all of Clusiana, Altaica and Lanata. The rest of Lato continued unaffliated with any wider kingdoms, but deeply scarred by the millennium of war. It would be a long time before the whole cluster recovered. The Second Wave of Kingdoms In the centuries after the Terror ended, new kingdoms cropped up and old, still extant ones reemerged. The Kingdom of Pedals now extended much further than it did before the Terror and was the hegemon of the Lato island cluster. Pedals controlled much of the trading in the cluster. An influential and powerful human family, Gagea, gained control over the city-states of the former Coalition of Xerga and built a mighty fortress, Castle Draco on the site of Xerxii. The family started a royal Duchy using its own name, the Duchy of Gagea. While they were the smallest of the second wave of kingdoms, their army was fierce, pummeling cities into submission and forcing them into tributary cities. To Gagea's west, the halfling Republic of Paradisea, destroyed nearly a thousand years earlier by Snow, was rebuilt and managed to control all of Popovii. A peaceful state, Paradisea had no standing army, instead focusing on intellectual pursuits. It was there that the first self-propelling sails were perfected, allowing travel between the islands of Lato to become easier and faster. Further west was a new power, coming from the ashes of the old. After several decades of negotiation, the elven kingdoms of Fulkun and Miya united, basing their center of power at the royal family of Biflora's ancestral Woods of Miya. The new Bifloran Kingdom stretched over all of Pusilla, Wardii, Scilla, Concolor and the Hewerii Archipelago. Biflora was the only power capable of competing against the Kingdom of Pedals, but the two kingdoms cooperated with each other. Just south of the Bifloran Kingdom, a new power was emerging quickly. On Auratum, the coalition of humans and half-elves that had staved off the Miyan invasion millennia earlier, which managed to survive the terror unscathed by promising neutrality, coalesced into a kingdom of mighty and noble fighters. This kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Oxidora. Oxidora and Biflora clashed repeatedly, but neither side ever gained a foothold on the other's possessions. Elsewhere, Mount Juba was starting to expand once again, but the days of the Edulis family being a factor on the wider Lato stage seemed in the past. The Pandoran State also was still around, but outside of occasional visits from the Kingdom of Pedals, Pandora remained isolated. The new status quo allowed the cluster to live in relative harmony for a few thousand years, until a royal wedding set off a new era of expansion and domination. The Kingdom of Lato The Kingdom of Pedals and the Kingdom of Oxidora had an unease relationship for several centuries. They clashed now and then over the two island groups that lay between them, the Regale Islands and the Jankae Islands. However, 5,238 years ago, the two states tired of their fighting and decided that they would do better by aligning with each other. The Queen of Oxidora, Queen Yil, and the King of Pedals, King Rosso, married and united the two kingdoms. They renamed the new, greatly expanded kingdom the Kingdom of Lato, signifying early the collective ambition of the kingdom to control all of the island clusters. In the meantime, some of the other powers were expanding as well. The Bifloran Kingdom reclaimed Parryi, which it had lost millennia ago. The Duchy of Gagea conquered Lutea, restoring the land of the first Coalition of Xerqa. The Edulis Family regained more of the Scoutus Mountains, while the Pandoran State and the Republic of Paradisae remained pat. However it was clear that the Kingdom of Lato was far and away the most powerful state. With the mighty warriors of Oxidora and the trading power of the Kingdom of Pedals, the Kingdom of Lato was a dominant force. The expansion began quickly, focusing first on lands that were not affiliated with any kingdoms. The islands to the southwest of Auratum (Patens, Eximium and Arvense) fell quickly, and the new kingdom managed to secure the Latinum Islands as well. The Kingdom of Lato swept across Cherleri, coming from both the east and west, until it conquered everything on both sides of the Scoutus Mountains. The Edulis family sued for peace and agreed to become a vassal state of Lato. The fall of the Edulis family sent a powerful and frightening message to the rest of the kingdoms: not even Snow and his mighty dragon army had managed to force a surrender from the dwarven power. It put the rest of the world on notice. The Pandoran State was next in the crosshairs. It was sieged by sea for nearly a year, until the teiflings sued for peace as well, agreeing to become a vassal state, just like the Edulis family. The Republic of Paradisae surrendered immediately, not wanting to be subjected to any war. Lato sent some members of its army to occupy the island of Popovii. That left just the Duchy of Gagea and the Biflornan Kingdom. The Kingdom of Lato split its military and fought both at the same time, a war on two fronts. The war against Gagea lasted for seven years until Lato emerged victorious. This allowed Lato to focus entirely on the elves. Lato chipped away until just the Woods of Miya were left. The Bifloran elves held out for decades, until eventually they too fell. The expansion of the Kingdom of Lato took nearly 2,000 years. But eventually, it managed to do what even Snow and his army of monsters and dragons could not do: unite the entirety of the Lato island cluster. Recent History The Systola family, the royal family that came about as a result of the union of Oxidora and the Kingdom of Pedals, ruled Lato as a hereditary monarchy for 2,500 years, keeping nearly all the power in their own hands and giving little to anybody else. However, dissension began to threaten to fracture the united kingdom. Seeking reform, King Ylisse proposed a radical new government structure: an elected democracy. He approved the creation of six royal houses, based on the kingdoms that existed before the unification: Biflora, Paradisae, Gagea, Saxatilis of Pandora, Edulis and Systola. The sitting monarch, within their first five years on the throne, would name two heirs, both from a different royal house from each other and the sitting monarch. Then, upon the monarch's 25th year on the throne or their death, the three remaining houses would vote and elect a new king. Eager for a chance to govern the mighty, rich kingdom, all the houses agreed. The system was put in place 1,000 years ago. Over that time, each of the houses has become known for having influence over specific zones of life in Lato. The Bifloran elves control a great deal of the financial affairs of Lato, dating back to when the Kingdom of Falkun controlled trade; the Paradisea halflings control the educational system, increasing learning and science across the kingdom; the Gagea humans make up the bulk of the military of Lato; the tieflings of Saxatilis are religiously devout and run almost all of the temples around the cluster, despite the god or goddess who is worshiped there; the Edulis dwarves are in charge of building projects around the kingdom, from dams and mines to temples and capitol buildings; and finally the Systolan humans and half-elves make up many of the knights of the kingdom, as well as a great deal of its civil leaders. After the elected monarchy system was put in place, the Bifloran elves decided to waive their right for consideration of the throne, instead focusing entirely on building the economic strength of Lato. They did, however, maintain their right to vote for the new king. Life in Lato for members of the royal houses has been great since they were created. Even members off the main branch in each family, even those who have little to no chance of being named an heir, still enjoy royal privileges. Life for non-royals, however, has not always been so easy. This dichotomy resulted in the most recent threat to the existence of the united kingdom. The Civil War Seventy-five years ago, a serial killer stalked Cape Ainheim, the seat of the house of Paradisae, killing 14 victims. When the culprit was revealed to be a member of Paradisae, he was sentenced to house arrest and stripped of his royal rights. This caused a great deal of uproar across the kingdom, for the typical punishment of multiple counts of murder was the death penalty. Commoners on islands all around Lato, but particularly those in Lilium, the capital of the kingdom, and in those cities that had royal presences, took to the streets in protest. While the protests were initially peaceful, it did not take long for violence to spread. Several royals had their mansions invaded and trashed, and some royals were even lynched in the streets, regardless of if they had done anything wrong themselves. The royal houses were sharply divided. Saxatilis and Systola sided with the peaceful protesters and called for reforms. Gagea and Edulis condemned the protesters and resisted change. Bilfora remained neutral. Paradisae, meanwhile, also tried to avoid taking a position, despite the fact that their house provided the spark that set the uprisings off. Forces from Saxatilis and Systola attempted to protect the peaceful protesters from the military and the other houses. There were several clashes between forces of the royal houses. The sitting king, King Vilt of Paradisae was ineffective and unwilling to address the issue. When he passed away of a heart attack, an election was held between his two heirs: Prince Storn of Systola, and Prince Bulfur of Edulis. In a sharply divided election, Storn was elected the new king. King Storn met with the protesters and was eventually able to push through reforms, ending the struggle. Members of the royal houses would be subject to the same punishments as commoners, and commoners received the rights to certain areas of the kingdom that had been restricted to royals. The violent protesters were punished to a degree favorable to the royals, pleasing both sides. King Storn's Reign In the first few years of his reign, Storn named Vut of Gagea and Rada of Saxatilis as his heirs. He was much beloved by the royal houses for his grace in handling the resolution to the civil war. He served his full 25 years, but shortly before the election of the new monarch, Vut and Rada both died; Vut in a hunting accident and Rada by a stroke. In the crisis of succession, Storn was elected by the five remaining houses for a temporary extension of his reign, until he could nominate new heirs and they could become familiar with the process. Staying loyal to the houses he named initially, renominated them. He named Fell of Gagea, Vut's cousin, as one heir and Noor of Saxatilis, Rada's younger sister, as the other. Shortly into his extended reign, Storn passed away, forcing the election to be held. The Election Despite Storn's successful reign and handling of the civil war, Lato was left in a weakened state but the conflict. Bandits and pirates cropped up across the cluster, hitting vulnerable towns, ports and shipping lanes. How to deal with these outlaws was the primary issue in the election between Prince Fell and Princess Noor. Fell, coming from a warrior's background, promised to seek out the bandits and pirates and crush them and their support network. Noor, a religious woman, vowed to increase social services for commoners, seeking to address the root cause of banditry and piracy. Edulis and Biflora were more swayed by Fell, and voted for him to succeed Storn, although Paradisae supported Noor. King Fell's Reign Upon his coronation, King Fell swiftly reorganized the military to create the First Platoon, a platoon of ultra-loyal Gagean soldiers, led by his dear friend Rail, that would obey his commands without question. Within the first six months of his reign, he announced that he had found the hotbed of bandit activity: the town of Nanum on Patens. He sent the First Platoon there to destroy them. The First Platoon arrived and decimated the town, killing every soul there except for one, the elf Haru Hail. Shortly afterwards, word got out that there were no bandits at Nanum, but rather that the town had strongly opposed his election as king. The islands were outraged, and the royal houses (including most of Gagea) united against Fell and deposed him. Rail and the surviving members of the First Platoon were executed. Princess Noor was elected Queen in his place. Queen Noor's Reign Queen Noor spared Fell's life, instead exiling him to the Polyodon Archipelago, a desolate island cluster, where he would be guarded 24/7. She has been on the throne for two years now. Noor has been moderately successful with pushing her policies into effect, increasing funding for social services. However, this has made her unpopular among the Biflora house, who are concerned that her plans might run the treasury of the kingdom dry. In the southwest of Lato, on the island of Eximium, King Storn's former personal bodyguard and one of the fiercest warriors in the history of the kingdom, Grimlock Petra, started a mercenary group with his friend Haru Hail and five others. The GrimHail Mercenaries seek to help those who are affected by the banditry and piracy problem, but whose cases might not warrant the deployment of the military.